Controversial idea about race and policing in America

DiogenesTheWiser

DiogenesTheWiser

Well-Known Member
So I have a controversial idea about race and policing in America. Just for full disclosure, I'm a white male. And I understand many African Americans may not like this post. That's fine--call me whatever you want.

Likewise, law enforcement may not like this post.

You all have been warned. Stop reading now.

Anyway, blacks complain of being pulled over too often for "driving while black." The only reason they got pulled over was because the driver was black. Police complain that when on traffic enforcement it's usually black drivers that are breaking most of the rules.

Doing my work with Louisiana prisoners--most of whom are black--I've recognized that many African Americans in this state were never formally taught to drive. Consequently, when they get on the roads they break all kinds of easy to follow traffic rules. They change lanes without signalling, they tailgate drivers in front of them, they stop in the middle of the road for no apparent reason. They speed excessively, and turn right on red when a sign clearly says don't do that.

I've proposed an idea for La. state prisoners to undergo (among many other release programs) driver training before being released. They will need to get a DL after their probation period is over, and they need to know how to drive because when a cop pulls you over in Louisiana, it's a fishing expedition. If they discover the driver has a record, they're going to search the car, and the driver, search the passengers, and bring out the dogs.

I am sure that there are numerous cops in America that harass black drivers just because they're black. But given the driving that I do in this state, and given the reckless shit I see black drivers doing on the road, I can certainly understand that African Americans need to understand some basic things about being on the road--and that many are being pulled over because they are doing 65 in a 45, or instead of finding a rest area, they pull over on the shoulder of the interstate and have lunch.

https://www.aclu.org/report/driving-while-black-racial-profiling-our-nations-highways
 
ANC

ANC

Well-Known Member
Wait, and you have only seen black people do that?
Let me teach you a word today, scotoma.

From wikipedia.
Beyond its literal sense concerning the visual system, the term scotoma is also used metaphorically in several fields, including neurology, neuropsychology, psychology, philosophy, and politics. The common theme of all the figurative senses is of a gap not in visual function but in the mind's perception, cognition, or world view. Their concrete connection to the literal sense, however, is by the connection between the nervous system and the mind, via the chain of links from sensory input, to nerve conduction, to the brain, to perception (the processing and interpreting of that input) via the brain-mind correlation, to psychological function. Thus there is not only (or not necessarily) a visual inability to see an aspect of reality but also (or instead) a mental inability to conceive even the possibility of seeing that aspect, due to a cognitive schema that lacks any provision for it.

Basically, when you see something and your mind focuses on it so much it doesn't see anything else. Or you see more of what you started off with. like when you start thinking about quitting smoking, your mind perks up anytime it sees data about stopping. Hell, anything smoking related will catch your attention.

Now in the same way, when one has racist thinking like that, you stop counting anytime you see someone else do the same thing you complain about. I don't blame racists totally, racism is more like a disease, like depression or schizophrenia, it is something that happens to you rather than a choice. If you were raised by racists it has and will have for generations of your offspring an effect. We come from a society which normalised being white and christian as the highest level of lifestyle to look up to. And even those of us who just look as if we could fall in that range still get all the benefits and none of the hassles other people have to put up day after day, knowing it will never change in their lifetime. I have never ever been frisked by police, and don't expect to be either. Dude, that is white privilege, and I acknowledge it and I try to change attitudes so we can have rainbow privilege.
 
DiogenesTheWiser

DiogenesTheWiser

Well-Known Member
I work with black prisoners and they confess that they didn't know what a turn signal was for--and didn't understand that you aren't allowed to drive 100 mph on the interstate. They've admitted to tailgating and weaving in an out of slower moving traffic (which will alert a patrol cop all of the time). They've also admitted to not really having any driving lessons, and most weren't aware that they needed to get a driver's license (which inevitably led to their arrests on other charges) before driving a car. I asked all of them about their initial arrests, and they all said that it happened at a "routine" traffic stop.

Of all the La. state prisoners I work with, 98% of them are African American, and most are in the system for drug possession. The other 2% are Latino. This is Louisiana and there aren't very many white prisoners in the county systems. I can't say that about Angola, however. The Latino prisoners--all of whom are American citizens--had driver's licenses.

I understand that many cops out there pull over black and brown drivers based on racial profiling. But to minimize this, it'd be helpful if blacks took some formal driving lessons before getting out on the road. Of all the prisoners I'm working with now, not one received the talk from their parents or elders about how to interact with the police and how to drive so you don't get pulled over. Not one.
 
HAF2

HAF2

Well-Known Member
Around me, so many people do not obey the rules of the road. So many speed, tailgate, don't use the turn signals or do things against the law.

But, from a report I read a few months ago, people of colour get pulled over for disobeying these laws at an unrepresentative rate compared to their population percentage.

This is bais. This is seeing someone and expecting them to be doing something based on preconceived notions.

I would say all people that disobey traffic laws could use a course in driving. But it might be more benifical to minorities, because they're going to get pulled over more simply for being a minority.

https://www.google.ca/amp/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.3925251
 
blu3bird

blu3bird

Well-Known Member
ALL people being released from a lengthy incarceration should be given an opportunity to learn to integrate back into society smoothly. Learn to obey the traffic laws is a good start, you need to be able to drive well to properly function within today's society.

I think you have a good idea and it would help alot of people from going back in a cage for something that could be easily prevented with a little education.
 
Grandpapy

Grandpapy

Well-Known Member
blu3bird said:
ALL people being released from a lengthy incarceration should be given an opportunity to learn to integrate back into society smoothly. Learn to obey the traffic laws is a good start, you need to be able to drive well to properly function within today's society.

I think you have a good idea and it would help alot of people from going back in a cage for something that could be easily prevented with a little education.
Click to expand...
I agree! That 9 month incubation incarceration would be the place to start.:idea:
 
ANC

ANC

Well-Known Member
Here let me fix your racism so your idea doesn't get lost, I think you are well intentioned.

"Anyway, poor people complain of being pulled over too often for "driving while poor " The only reason they got pulled over was because the driver was poor. Police complain that when on traffic enforcement it's usually poor drivers that are breaking most of the rules.

Doing my work with Louisiana prisoners--most of whom are poor--I've recognized that many Americans in this state were never formally taught to drive. Consequently, when they get on the roads they break all kinds of easy to follow traffic rules. They change lanes without signalling, they tailgate drivers in front of them, they stop in the middle of the road for no apparent reason. They speed excessively, and turn right on red when a sign clearly says don't do that.

I've proposed an idea for La. state prisoners to undergo (among many other release programs) driver training before being released. They will need to get a DL after their probation period is over, and they need to know how to drive because when a cop pulls you over in Louisiana, it's a fishing expedition. If they discover the driver has a record, they're going to search the car, and the driver, search the passengers, and bring out the dogs.

I am sure that there are numerous cops in America that harass poor drivers just because they're poor. But given the driving that I do in this state, and given the reckless shit I see poordrivers doing on the road, I can certainly understand that Americans need to understand some basic things about being on the road--and that many are being pulled over because they are doing 65 in a 45, or instead of finding a rest area, they pull over on the shoulder of the interstate and have lunch."
 
UncleBuck

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
black people could be the best drivers in the world, and whites the worst, and black people would still get pulled over, searched, ticketed, and arrested at vastly disproportionate rates.

a few months back i got ticketed for driving without registration. when i went into the court to plead guilty and pay the $50 fine, i was surrounded by almost exclusively hispanic and black people. there may have been one other white face in there besides mine, out of about 80 people. and the state i live in is almost exclusively white. the area i got pulled over in is almost 80% white, and 20% hispanic. you would never know by looking at the court room.

i even pointed it out to the judge when pleading.
 
DiogenesTheWiser

DiogenesTheWiser

Well-Known Member
UncleBuck said:
black people could be the best drivers in the world, and whites the worst, and black people would still get pulled over, searched, ticketed, and arrested at vastly disproportionate rates.

a few months back i got ticketed for driving without registration. when i went into the court to plead guilty and pay the $50 fine, i was surrounded by almost exclusively hispanic and black people. there may have been one other white face in there besides mine, out of about 80 people. and the state i live in is almost exclusively white. the area i got pulled over in is almost 80% white, and 20% hispanic. you would never know by looking at the court room.

i even pointed it out to the judge when pleading.
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Yes, I agree.

And some of the prisoners I've got to know here in Louisiana say exactly that. "I'm not going to follow no white man's rules because they gonna fuck me whether I do or not!"

The prisoner who told me that is doing a 9-year stretch for small potatoes pot possession/DWI. He was pulled over right after lighting a blunt in the middle of a small Louisiana town where the cops are well-known to be bullies. It was his third offense, and so that means prison time that he's serving in a parish lockup because Louisiana pays parish sheriffs to house state prisoners.
 
S

schuylaar

Well-Known Member
UncleBuck said:
black people could be the best drivers in the world, and whites the worst, and black people would still get pulled over, searched, ticketed, and arrested at vastly disproportionate rates.

a few months back i got ticketed for driving without registration. when i went into the court to plead guilty and pay the $50 fine, i was surrounded by almost exclusively hispanic and black people. there may have been one other white face in there besides mine, out of about 80 people. and the state i live in is almost exclusively white. the area i got pulled over in is almost 80% white, and 20% hispanic. you would never know by looking at the court room.

i even pointed it out to the judge when pleading.
Click to expand...
What did the judge say?
 
S

schuylaar

Well-Known Member
DiogenesTheWiser said:
Yes, I agree.

And some of the prisoners I've got to know here in Louisiana say exactly that. "I'm not going to follow no white man's rules because they gonna fuck me whether I do or not!"

The prisoner who told me that is doing a 9-year stretch for small potatoes pot possession/DWI. He was pulled over right after lighting a blunt in the middle of a small Louisiana town where the cops are well-known to be bullies. It was his third offense, and so that means prison time that he's serving in a parish lockup because Louisiana pays parish sheriffs to house state prisoners.
Click to expand...
A program to teach drivers ed at the jail is a great idea.

I happened to be at motor vehicle one day when I heard/saw clerk coaching a person of color to pass the test. When they got the answer wrong, the clerk would correct them 'try again..really think'. After that person left, I asked the clerk why they did that because it does endanger other drivers on the road. I was told point blank that if they didn't coach and pass them 'they'd be back again'. Isn't that the whole point?:lol: So motor vehicles doesn't want to be bothered with repeat customers.

I live in south Florida where the roads are Mad Max.
 
UncleBuck

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
DiogenesTheWiser said:
Yes, I agree.

And some of the prisoners I've got to know here in Louisiana say exactly that. "I'm not going to follow no white man's rules because they gonna fuck me whether I do or not!"

The prisoner who told me that is doing a 9-year stretch for small potatoes pot possession/DWI. He was pulled over right after lighting a blunt in the middle of a small Louisiana town where the cops are well-known to be bullies. It was his third offense, and so that means prison time that he's serving in a parish lockup because Louisiana pays parish sheriffs to house state prisoners.
Click to expand...
louisiana is a bastion of white supremacy. just look at how they dole out the death penalty. i don't think any white person has ever received the death penalty for killing a black man. whereas it would be rare to see a black man not get the death penalty for killing a white. it's like this all over the south.

berniebros like you and others may be well-intentioned and say we just need more education for everyone. all that would do is to leave white supremacy in place so that more educated black people would fall victim to the same racist system.

fix the racist system first and foremost. i'd like to see racist judges sent to prison.
 
S

schuylaar

Well-Known Member
There should also be a course to teach basics like how to write a check and balance it.

Make sure they know how to count change back to someone..you'd be surprised at how many people can't do these things.
 
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